At Iriss we like to use open source software. Why? Well, it means that we can collaborate with others and benefit from being part of a global community of experts. That same global community is available to develop and enhance our products in the future. If we build something for the community, you will not be dependent on us for future development - you will be free to chose whichever expert you wish. We hope it will be us, but it doesn't have to be!
A good example is The Learning Exchange (LX), Iriss's digital library of social services resources. Just over a year ago we built a new version using open source software and we are now releasing it free-of-charge to anyone who wants it.
Background
The first version of The Learning Exchange was built using a commercial product, which at the time provided much of what we needed. However, time moved on, we outgrew this product and subsequently created a custom layer that greatly simplified access to resources held within the LX.
During this period we strengthened our skills in a key application - Drupal - a freely available open source content management system (CMS). We were confident that the LX could be vastly improved by re-building our own version using Drupal.
We went ahead and developed the LX using Drupal and the new version has been live for over a year.
Our users like the new features, which include:
- Aesthetic and intuitive design
- Speed of searches
- Ease of sharing resources
- Ability to filter results by resource type
Contributors
Key to success and continued growth of the LX are specialist contributors. An example is the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability (SCLD) that has contributed their Citizen Leadership Gallery, which showcases a series of video case studies. If you are interested in adding your materials to the LX, please get in touch.
Standing on the shoulders of giants
At Iriss, we passionately believe in open source and sharing so that's why we have decided to make this tool freely available to the community. It will require a bit of 'techie know-how' to set-up, so if you have in-house developers or are one yourself, that will help.
If you don't have this resource, then please get in touch with us, as we may be able to work something out. If you have any questions, please contact Paul Hart (Interactive Developer).
